.......And even before it was launched she was already inhabiting the realm of my dreams.....

Not since Dia Mirza ( my fave ) and Aishwarya Rai has a woman caught my imagination like this one has......

So inspite of all the brickbats it was getting in reviews I was drawn to this film like a moth to a flame.....

Come hell or high water I was going to see this film....

And so I did.....

And I feasted my eyes on Tammannaah---with the emphasis on the aah , remember that.....

And I returned home a fulfilled man.....

What else do you want ?? The review of the film ??

Well it consists of the ugly Ajay Devgan who has come to his friend's hometown to save the town and his friend's mother and daughter from the evil clutches of Sher Singh ( played by Mahesh Manjrekar ) who had killed his friend's father.....

And he is one true himmatwala.....

Can beat several people at the same time with two huge metal bells hitting them in turn....

Can fight a beast of prey......

Can lift an entire bullock cart to attack his enemies......

And is protected by the mother goddess who sends her tiger to protect him at the same time Allah protects him with his taawiz.....

What else can one want to see.....??

Well , one wants to see some coherent storyline and good entertainment which is sadly lacking.....

The director doesn't know whether to make the film comedy or serious , acting by most actors is not great , Tamannaah's exposed thighs are fat ( but she is still my Tamannaah.....) and the item song is needlessly thrown in.....

The only good performance is some great acting by Paresh Rawal who gives some real laughs in his act as the brother in law of the evil Sher singh who marries Ajay Devgan's sister to his son in order to bring Devgan to heel.....

Saajid khan does not understand the simplest thing,. that he was raised and grew up watching Jeetu bhai's movie and mania of those days and time,.... and he makes the movie of the same fashion that worked in 70-80s,... In many interviews I see, thathe and Farah both are living in 70-80s,...

and all new copies of those be it,... Amar akbar anthony, Himmatwaala, Zanzeer ( the new ones ) have failed terribly n' miserably..
'Coz those generation of people of that mind-sets are already set in the horizon,.. you can not jump into the same river twice,.. as the river has changed and there's always a new, up-coming flow of water,...
Whatever worked during those time, in 70-80s, was among-st the best stuff available, as per the mentality of the people and the tech. available during that time...

You can't just force-fit this generation, the 70-80's mentality and mindset of the movies,... 'Coz they watched such in million son TVs while growing up and mostly fast-forwarding all of them,.. most songs and boring slow story, and baqwaas force-fitted comedy,. But still he does the same attempt of feeding such, over and over with,...

Joker , tees maar khaan, himmat waala,.. and his many many flop-list goes unending,... and he still keeps on making the movies which would had worked during those times, when it was the only BEST stuff available out there, in the market,....

Today, the time has changed,..ppl are hack tired of gissi-pitti same stories, rona-dhona, bhaiyon ka bichhadna, vidhva maa, un-natural comedy, songs added and popped up anywhere, and little comedy and dhissom dhissom and thus finish the movie,... those days are gone,...

And in this film the director sells a fantastic dream of love---a story of love between a girl and a deaf and dumb guy.....not just a story of love , but of love fulfilled ; of the lovebirds getting locked in holy matrimony and living life till old age caring and sharing for each other ; of living life to the full in each others arms and dying on the same bed ; of sharing tears and laughter together till the end of their time on earth ;of holding each others hand and protecting each other.....all because they dared to follow the path led by their heart without question and without thinking.....

.....or have i talked too much already and played spoiler ??

maybe i have.....

but then right now i am under the spell of the film and decided to follow my heart just like the film asks us to.....and my heart wanted me to talk freely about the film....

If any film has been made to pass on the message to follow your heart
without thinking of practicalities then this is it.....
But actually so many films have been made saying the same thing.....
The triumph of the director of this film lies in making the idea heartrendingly and eyeswettingly believable.....

As for those who let practical matters take precedence over matters of emotion---its loneliness for them.....as Ileana D'Cruz finds out.....

She is the one who loves the deaf and dumb guy ( played by Ranbir Kapoor ) first , but loses him as she listens to her mother who wants her to marry a rich and normal guy .

.......And Ranbir is everything but that....

He is the son of a chauffeur who is forever in motion.....forever running and jumping and falling and making faces and dancing---as if all this hyperactivity would make up for his defects....

But he has no money or future---and Ileana goes out of his world....
.....only to return years later as she finds out that the call of the heart was stronger than the pull of reality.....

But now Ranbir is involved in a complicated case of the kidnapping of an autistic girl ( played by priyanka chopra ) who is now no more....or is she ??

Now Ranbir and Ileana have the chance to live life again by getting together . But do their hearts beat together again just like they did 6 years ago ?? Or will somebody play spoiler ?? Go and find out by seeing the movie....

The acting honours go to both Ranbir and Priyanka Chopra---it was difficult pulling off the role of a deaf and dumb guy and autistic girl but both pull it off with aplomb.....Priyanka especially is in top form.....

The scenery of Darjeeling is well picturised as the story unfolds in convoluted flashbacks ; but the director does manage to tie up the loose ends together as the climax approaches.....the songs too are hummable.....but what remains etched in the mind is the moviemaker's call to follow your heart.....

As I walked out of the cinema hall I thought '' All this is stuff of dreams and fantasy . The real world is all about being practical ''......but the dreams wouldn't go--of finding true love ; of living without a care in the world in the arms of your beloved.....

Well , I told you these moviemakers are dream merchants arent they....and the director is the master of them all.....

Kai po che---thats what Gujaratis are supposed to say when the rope of their kite cuts the rope of somebody else's kite---at least thats what I gathered from a scene in the film....

So is the film a celebration of Gujarati culture and Gujarati entrepreneurship by Bollywood ?? A show of what Gujaratis have achieved through their hard work and their skills ?? A film about the vibrancy of Gujarat and the economic heights to which Gujaratis have reached ??

Naah---its something more mundane.....

Its part of the regular media gameplan to demonise the hindu nationalist forces repeatedly, and its a part of the Bollywood plan to earn more moolah by appeasing minorities so that the film runs well in Pakistan and the middle east , and it is part of the larger conspiracy to show hindu nationalist ruled states and especially Gujarat as hotbeds of communal tension where minorities are under attack .

So whats the plot ??

Three friends open a cricket academy , and their chief find is a boy named Ali who is destined to be a great cricketeer . But various events like the Gujarat earthquake and Gujarat riots intervene to seemingly wreak havoc with their plans . And also shown are their personal trysts and defeats and triumphs .

So do they show the terrible Gujarat earthquake ?? Not really , the main concentration is on the fact that minorities did not receive aid from the hindu nationalist govt in the aftermath of the earthquake.....

And of course , the Gujarat riots are shown with gusto---fully in line with the media's and intellectual class's habit of harping repeatedly about the Gujarat riots to the exclusion of everything else .

One of the three friends loses his parents in the burning alive of kar sevaks in the train at Godhra . Now why didnt they not show that incident at all ?? Oh , thats because in this case the minorities were at fault.....

Now that friend goes along with a hindu nationalist mob to kill the future cricketeer Ali and Ali's father in revenge for the killing of his parents in Godhra . Its upto the two other friends to stop him....

So can they stop him ?? Go and watch the movie for that....

Yes , the Gujarat riots were a terrible thing . But is that the only thing about that state worth highlighting ??

And does Bollywood have the guts to show events like the great Calcutta killings that led to the partition of the country in 1947 but were started by minorities ?? Naah.....

At least Gujaratis should see through this gameplan of repeated vilification of their state because it is ruled by the hindu nationalist forces .

On a better note---some part of Gujarati culture like dandiya is well shown . The only girl in the movie is not only pretty but is also ' forward ' in the sense that she takes the lead in not only wooing her boyfriend but taking him to bed....
Are all Gujarati women similarly ' forward ' ?? Must try befriending some.....

Verdict---depends really on how politically inclined you are , or even how politically aware you are . Many folks would find it a good movie . I being right wing by my political beliefs found it just about okay....

I may be on the right side.. but the movie was not convincing, just reaffirming faith/trust in a player doesn't bring results. And somebody with no to little experience can't coach, that too technical coaching.

She is there in umpteen Gult movies. you can watch them. Jagguji can help share all the Gult movie links too.
One i remember is '100% love'
Full movie here.

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Now that friend goes along with a hindu nationalist mob to kill the future cricketeer Ali and Ali's father in revenge for the killing of his parents in Godhra . Its upto the two other friends to stop him....

So can they stop him ?? Go and watch the movie for that....

No Einstein here, but obviously they are able to stop him.

__________________
This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang

Movies for the bubblegum crowd and candyfloss romance---that's the world of Karan Johar.....and that's the only world he knows.....

Or maybe thats the only world he SHOULD know---for he's pretty good at making movies ( and most importantly moolah ) on it.....as this effort shows.....

So lets immerse ourselves into Karan Johar's world.....

.....all designer clothes costing in the several thousands---branded clothes are for only for poor people.....and nonbranded ?? sshh !! those who wear nonbranded clothes dont exist in Johar's world.....

And college proms and games with cheerleaders and girls in bikinis....you might be forgiven for thinking you are in some american college.....

Only problem ?? the characters have to speak not in english but hindi !!
......for Karan Johar may live in his high brow world but his moolah comes from the desi audience !! how sad for poor Karan.....

And into this world of super-rich Rohan Nanda and his girlfriend Shania ( Alia Bhatt---muslim named daughter of Pakistan lover Mahesh Bhatt of aman ki asha fame....hence the muslim name ) comes Abhimanyu Singh from a middle class family.....
Middle class means he probably wears only branded clothes instead of the designer ones which Rohan and Shania wear.....

Ahh---Shania( Alia )....so how is she compared to her older half sister Pooja ( hindu name---did Mahesh Bhatt's heart make a change over in between later towards Pakistan ? ) Bhatt.....??
Well....Alia lacks the spunk , the verve and above all the attitude of Pooja---the very facts that made Pooja such a hit among the hip crowd before she began to date too many boyfriends and lost interest in acting.....
But for that very same reason Alia has innocence.....and looks like a pretty doll.....in fact I found myself thinking about her on my way home......

Also thinking about her in the movie is Abhimanyu.....for after initially befriending Rohan he falls for Shania ( Alia ).....and worse , she gets attracted to him too---invoking jealousy in Rohan the poor rich boy who has the misfortune to be also hated by his domineering father......

And Rohan and Abhimanyu the goodlooking hunks come to blows over Shania.....and they promise to beat each other in the ' student of the year ' competition of the college to teach each other a lesson....

So who wins the competition ?? and who gets the girl ??
Go watch the movie for that.....

The movie is made funny by some light hearted moments courtesy the gay dean played by Rishi Kapoor.....
In fact too many gay moments in the movie.....is Karan Johar planning to come out in the open about his....err.....preferences.....??

This is the kind of movie that will play well in multiplexes and will be liked by classy women.....

And where there are classy women there will also be ashdoc the connoisseur of class.....